Today, I wanted to be early so leaving at 3 for the 6 o'clock show was not an issue unlike yesterday where things were just missed timed.
My aim was to get to the Pop-Up Bookshop situated in the lower ground of the Central Library, I knew I could take as long as I wanted, have a jolly good look around and see what fantastic writing and writers we had coming up, not that I didn't know but wanted some background reading. You can never have enough books, a wise person once said. I think I was my Dad-in-Law come to think of it!
Bit of a precarious cycle in to City Centre but will put that in another blog another time!
BOOKSHOP
I already had one request of purchase and that was to get Jackie Kay's new book 'Reality, Reality'. Never personally read her before and neither had my partner, she wanted the book as she and her dad (along with me, hopefully, as I volunteering for the event) on the 11th October at Birmingham Cathedral. Whilst standing waiting to pay for the book, I had a quick leaf through the first few pages and looks a good read with 15 short stories slotted within its covers. The theme is Reality and I can see that the basis of the book is around people perception of losing touch with Reality with all the TVs shows we are watching where Reality seems to be lost.
Find out more from Jackie Kay at Birmingham Book Festivals: http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/jackie-kay-reality-reality-3872/ and the British Council Literature: http://literature.britishcouncil.org/jackie-kay
Other books that caught the eye fell into the usual genres of attraction to myself; Adam Nevill, the author of 'Apartment 16', which was a gripping, page turning horror novel from the new author in 2010.
"A wonderfully written, deftly-plotted tale of terror. Apartment 16 kept me guessing right to the end, and kept me turning pages long into the night." Review by Fantasy Writing sums it up.
When I saw the latest offering from Nevill, 'Last Days', with its big bulky spine, large cover filled with dark haunted house in the shadows; I got excited and will be purchasing it on my next trip to the Bookshop with an empty bag!
Heart Shaped Bruise and Black Heart Blue were my next find on the tables filled with literature ready to be devoured.
Heart Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne, the cover caught my eye firstly as any good book should, I turned the book over with trepidation to read the blurb. Digesting every word, sentence. I now wanted to run away and hide in a dark room to read cover to cover without distraction. Let's see if you have the same effect from the few words on the back cover:
"They say I'm evil.
The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who sigh on the six o'clock news and say they always knew there was something not quite right about me.
And everyone believes it. Including you.
But you don't know. You don't know who I used to be. Who I could have been.
Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever shake off my mistakes or if I'll just carry them around with me forever like a bunch of red balloonsAwaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time."
Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid, almost had the same effect, I say almost as I only noticed it because it was sat next to Tanya Byrne's book. The blurb had the exact effect of wanting to read more:
"How would you feel if your twin sister died suddenly? Particularly if she was the beautiful one and you were horribly disfigured.
And how would it feel to be alone now if you and your sister were the only ones to know the truth about what takes place behind closed doors at home?
And what would you do if it was your parents who brought danger and terror into your life? Would you dare reveal how your sister died?
And would you be brave enough to find an escape of your own?
Black Heart Blue is a powerful novel about the domestic horrors that can unfold within a small community - and one girl's quest to stand up for the truth."
Come and see them at Central Library on the 9th October. Find out more from: http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/tanya-byrne-and-louisa-reid-3885/.
Simon Armitage
The evening started as it meant to go on I think and it was not rehearsed. Simon Armitage was introduced by Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of Writing West Midlands and he said,
"We had been talking earlier and I realised I have been reading his writing for 25 years".
Simon's response, "You have been reading longer than I have been writing it"
Fantastic comedy value there.
Simon Armitage showed why writers, poet, bloggers and in fact everyone does something that they feel passionate about. He grew up in a village called Marsden which is on the south Pennine Way, he explained that he saw "astronauts" on the horizon with their large rucksacks and they would come the hills into Marsden for some good old hospitality.
Armitage played both of these concepts on his travels for "Walking Home". Marsden was his destination and the walk was done backwards from Scottish Borders to Yorkshire.
With not a penny to his name, well in his pockets anyway, he set off looking for hospitality and for this he read his poetry in anywhere he could find.
His mission for the journey was to 'test' the resolve and longevity of his existence as a poet and other poets through his own works and stories. He upset a few local poets I am sure! Using the pull of Marsden and Home, he found that Poetry and Prose still has an existence in today's society and long may it continue.
Read the Book Festival site for the evening: http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/simon-armitage-walking-home-3774/ and more about "Walking Home" at http://www.simonarmitage.com/
A few snaps from last night after the event:
